


Oats In The Water

by GreenBread



Series: TWDG: One Shot Collection [11]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst and Tragedy, Blood and Gore, Clementine Has PTSD (Walking Dead), Clementine Needs a Hug (Walking Dead), Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27432964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenBread/pseuds/GreenBread
Summary: "How did you cope after Duck?""I didn't. Not for a very long time at the least. Losin' a child, it changes you. You ain't ever the same after that.""Does it ever get easier?"
Relationships: AJ | Alvin Jr. & Clementine (Walking Dead), Clementine & Kenny (Walking Dead)
Series: TWDG: One Shot Collection [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741540
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Oats In The Water

The burnt orange coloured liquid swirled around the bottle, the gleam of nearby candles caught in its waves. Clementine watched as it stilled alongside the movement of her calloused hand. The neck of the bottle felt cool pinched between her fingers. She rested her forehead on the corner of the old wooden desk and stared at the grimy floor, eyes empty. The floorboards had dust settled over them like a thick carpet. A rough choking sound escaped out of her lips as she shuffled on the worn burgundy cushion sat upon the head of the wonky bar stool.

With a shaky hand, she brought her knife up and softly placed it onto the desk. Black, dried blood coated the silver blade. It was weeks old. She quickly let it go, as if the object itself was burning her hand, inflicting an unknown curse upon her. Her hand brushed the snot from her nose, and she sobbed again. Puffy red eyes fell back onto the alcohol.

She found it ironic. She always hated the stuff when she was younger. Her dad would drink it every so often, and she never got why. It tasted horrible, and it burned her throat.

Now? Well, now she liked that burn. It ebbed away at the memories she was trying so hard to forget. She took a large swig and relished in the bitter taste. She gulped it down, slamming the bottle onto the desk as she did. It was loud, but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything anymore. She didn't even flinch as thunder crashed outside and a brilliant flash of white light blazed the inside of the bar, careening through the windows.

Silhouettes outside swayed in the lashing rain. Their yellow nails scraping against the panes of glass and their low growls drowned out by the lashing rain. Clementine watched as the walkers slowly drifted away, and brought a gun up from her hip, holding it up to the ceiling. Her finger curled around the trigger, and a boom exploded from within the containment of the barrel. Specks of the roof rained down like sparks, coating her small shoulders. Her expression didn't change, not even as the walkers attacked the door with a new, intense vigour. It was only a matter of time until they got in, she knew.

She took another swig, watching as a new shadow joined the masses. The arm reared back and struck a walker in the back of the head, its blood splattering onto the glass. A veil of frustration washed over her as she balled her fist up and bared her fangs. Teeth bit down on her lower lip, her jaw tense. The teenager swung around on the stool, looking away from the door, even as it crept open. She saw their shadow illuminate on the wall as another crash of lightning hit the ground. Tall, definitely a man.

"I ain't gonna hurt you." He said, a southern accent oozing from his mouth. Whoever it was, they sounded familiar. "I-I only want shelter from the rain. Much like you. A cold could be lethal these days." The man chuckled, "It's like the wrath of Poseidon out there."

Clementine barely cocked her head, the only sign she had heard a word the man had said. Another swig.

"I heard the gunshot and the walkers, and I thought maybe you would've needed help. What were you shootin' at?"

She pointed at the ceiling.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "Had enough, I suppose. I haven't got shit to live for, not anymore. The walkers at the door were about to break in, and they stopped."

"So you dragged them back by shootin'?"

She swirled around, a million insults seeping through her brain, and she paused, staring in shock. "Kenny?"

"Clementine?" He muttered, rubbing his one eye with his dirty sleeve, jostling his eyepatch ever so slightly. His grey beard had grown in length, and his face had visible wrinkles. Her jaw clenched shut as she saw the specks of pity begin to sweat through into his eye.

"Don't," She spoke, turning away from him again and slouching. "I don't want your fucking pity."

Kenny's feet dragged along the floor as he moved slowly up to her. She rolled her eyes and reached for a glass, and she pulled it down the bar. The beverage frothed as she poured it, filling the glass halfway. She flinched as Kenny's paws landed on her shoulder and he slipped onto the stool beside her. She rolled his hand off her and placed the glass in front of him.

"I didn't take you for the drinkin' type." He said, nudging the glass back toward her, declining it. She shrugged and went back to staring at her knife. "You alright, darlin'?"

Clementine snorted. "What does it look like?"

A shiver ran up her spine as Kenny saw the knife. "Who's blood is that?"

"AJ's." She hesitated. "I-It's AJ's blood."

Kenny looked away, swearing, "Fuck. What happened?"

_Clementine swore as her back got propelled through the window of a vending machine. Sparks of glass exploded, and she cried out, feeling a shard sticking into her side. Clementine brought her arm up and caught a walker by its neck. She gulped as its rotten jaw snapped at her. Another walker staggered up; pushing against the other one that was already a struggle to hold. The teenager raised her leg, and she thumped her boot into the midsection of another walker, feeling its ribs through the dead skin._

_Faintly, on the other side of the store, she could see AJ; his revolver aimed at the walkers pinning her. "Don't!" She shouted, "Deal with your own before dealing with mine! I got this!"_

_The boy nodded and shifted his attention to the walkers descending upon him._

_Her free hand roamed down the insides of the vending machine, stopping at the glass stabbing her. She spotted her knife, sitting on the floor way out of her reach. Her lips shifted into a grimace as she realised what she had to do._

_Taking a deep breath, Clementine pushed her body off the glass, screaming her vocal cords raw. She stumbled as all three walkers gained some ground on her. Her hand gripped around the bloodied shard and wiggled it free, ignoring how it cut into her palm. She jammed it into the eye of the one pushing against her forearm, and it toppled backwards, knocking the walker behind over. Gunshot blasted as she jabbed the shard through the mouth of the still-standing walker. She marched to the walker fumbling around on the tiled ground and with a sickening crunch, she caved in its head under her foot. Feeling the bone give way like she was standing on a grape. She leaned down and picked up her knife._

"Clementine!" Kenny said, voice raised. She snapped her gaze to him and apologised. The man sighed. "It's nothin'."

"I was just... lost in my head." She scrunched her eyes shut. "How did you cope after Duck?"

"I didn't. Not for a very long time at the least. Losin' a child, it changes you. You ain't ever the same after that."

"Does it ever get easier?"

"No. You only learn to bury it. Pretend you never had a kid in the first place." Kenny coughed and picked up the glass she had offered earlier, taking a sip. "Your turn to answer my question."

Clementine reluctantly complied. "We got attacked by walkers when we were looting a store. I killed mine but... one of them got AJ."

_A blood-curdling scream bounced off the walls, and Clementine ran to the sound. Sliding around the corner of an aisle, and pushing a walker away. She could see AJ on the floor, a walker chewing into the soft flesh between his neck and his shoulder._

_The world froze, and an inferno of rage built up in her chest. She rushed over, grabbed the corpse by its long strands of loose hair, pulling it off. She grabbed it by the back of the head and slammed it into a shelf, over and over again. She repeated the task until its head separated from its jaw, snapping off._

"I was too slow, and he was out of bullets." Clementine continued, taking a massive swig and wiping it off the corner of her mouth. "He tried to do the knee trick I taught him, but the walker grabbed him as it was falling. He was too small to push it off, so it ripped a chunk out of him." She placed a hand on her shoulder to demonstrate where. "Couldn't chop it off."

_"AJ!" She cried, diving onto her knees and supporting the weight of his head. Her hand quickly found their way onto the bite wound, and she pushed down on it in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. "You'll be okay... You'll be okay."_

_She gave up trying to stop the rapid geysers of blood, and instead wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead, tucking a curl back into his afro. It felt like touching a furnace. He was turning fast. Faster than anyone she'd seen before._

_"I love you, Goofball." She whispered into his ear, pulling out her knife and planting a soft kiss into his hair. "I love you."_

"I stabbed him." Clementine finished, "I-I killed him."

Kenny watched as she wiped away her tears. He hesitantly picked up the knife.

"What're you doing?"

He wiped the blood off and ignored the rage that overcame Clementine, even as she tried to punch him. He let it rock his head to the side. His one eye looked at her. "You gotta move on."

Clementine glared. "I can't. You haven't moved on from Duck."

"At least try. Alvie deserves that, right?"

"Don't do this to me." Clementine begged, her lip quivering, "Please. Don't make this about him. I can't-"

Kenny watched in comforting silence as the teenager in front of him broke down into tears, collapsing onto the floor in a drunken heap. He lowered onto the ground and held her in his arms as she cried and cried. "It'll be alright. I promise."


End file.
